Have you experienced this? - If you have an injured toe, you tend to hurt it again and again! Either it has to do with the fact that you are extra cautious while during the time the toe is injured and inadvertently tend to hurt it more OR the more logical explanation being, you ‘realize’ ,because it pains when the toe hurts again and again !. There is no statistical evidence that you actually hurt it more during this time.
I see a striking similarity in the news as reported, particularly in the vicinity of an important event. More so, if it’s an event worth negative publicity. Look at this- I see daily news about 'Ghar Vapasi' programs being organized across the country. One may seem to believe that there is sudden surge in conversion programs by the Hindu organizations. This is likely to create 'panic' amongst some and quite possibly exploited politically. However, I believe this is certainly not the case. The business of conversion (lately ‘to’, but 'from' since centuries) of/by Hindus has been going on seamlessly for quite some time. Just that the Aligarh or Agra incident have given the media and 'concerned' parties enough ammunition. Another example - I see frequent news of child abuse and criminal acts of sexual nature being reported from Bengaluru. Does that mean that there is sudden rise in child abuse cases and that Bengaluru was a safe place earlier? Probably not. But one event brought the focus on Bengaluru and now we have almost daily report of issues. Ditto, during the Nirbhaya case. After the unfortunate incident, there was news of a rape in Delhi almost daily. Sometimes multiple in a day.
It is very easy to blame the administration (in cases like rape) and/or the political parties/media (depending on which side you are). But thinking of it, everybody is right in their own way. Authorities are right in being vigilant for similar cases and acting on them .The media is right in reporting the incident. It’s their job of course and they will want to gain TRP from it. Political parties have right to make noises. It’s their job again! - Apart from many other things.
However, the event or events are far stretched and distorted versions circulated on social media by vested interests. This apart from the 24X7 dose from news channels and their ‘experts’. The net result of this is creation of mass hysteria leading to anti-incumbency, demonstrations, cynicism, panic and everything else that may not be good for the society and nation. The positive aspect being creation of awareness and (to some extent) efficiency of administration in such cases, at least for some time. Statistically speaking there is no evidence that the occurrence of ‘said’ event is found to reduce over time due to the excessive reporting or mass hysteria. Reason of course is that all the hysteria is a game of public emotions and numbers and public memory is short.
So what? Are we supposed to shut down the TV sets, newspapers and social media and just believe what Doordarshan says? Not really. But apply your own filters.
“Logon ke kahane pe maat jao. Aapne dimage ki batti jalao! “
In short,Use your discretion.
Btw, this applies equally to overpublicized ‘achievements’ and flooding of ‘positive news’ as well!
Jai Hind.
I see a striking similarity in the news as reported, particularly in the vicinity of an important event. More so, if it’s an event worth negative publicity. Look at this- I see daily news about 'Ghar Vapasi' programs being organized across the country. One may seem to believe that there is sudden surge in conversion programs by the Hindu organizations. This is likely to create 'panic' amongst some and quite possibly exploited politically. However, I believe this is certainly not the case. The business of conversion (lately ‘to’, but 'from' since centuries) of/by Hindus has been going on seamlessly for quite some time. Just that the Aligarh or Agra incident have given the media and 'concerned' parties enough ammunition. Another example - I see frequent news of child abuse and criminal acts of sexual nature being reported from Bengaluru. Does that mean that there is sudden rise in child abuse cases and that Bengaluru was a safe place earlier? Probably not. But one event brought the focus on Bengaluru and now we have almost daily report of issues. Ditto, during the Nirbhaya case. After the unfortunate incident, there was news of a rape in Delhi almost daily. Sometimes multiple in a day.
It is very easy to blame the administration (in cases like rape) and/or the political parties/media (depending on which side you are). But thinking of it, everybody is right in their own way. Authorities are right in being vigilant for similar cases and acting on them .The media is right in reporting the incident. It’s their job of course and they will want to gain TRP from it. Political parties have right to make noises. It’s their job again! - Apart from many other things.
However, the event or events are far stretched and distorted versions circulated on social media by vested interests. This apart from the 24X7 dose from news channels and their ‘experts’. The net result of this is creation of mass hysteria leading to anti-incumbency, demonstrations, cynicism, panic and everything else that may not be good for the society and nation. The positive aspect being creation of awareness and (to some extent) efficiency of administration in such cases, at least for some time. Statistically speaking there is no evidence that the occurrence of ‘said’ event is found to reduce over time due to the excessive reporting or mass hysteria. Reason of course is that all the hysteria is a game of public emotions and numbers and public memory is short.
So what? Are we supposed to shut down the TV sets, newspapers and social media and just believe what Doordarshan says? Not really. But apply your own filters.
“Logon ke kahane pe maat jao. Aapne dimage ki batti jalao! “
In short,Use your discretion.
Btw, this applies equally to overpublicized ‘achievements’ and flooding of ‘positive news’ as well!
Jai Hind.
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